[LWVNM Action] Help NM redistrict in 2021 withoutgerrymandering

[Richard Mason]

Great Oped by our Project Coordinator


https://www.abqjournal.com/1491692/help-nm-redistrict-in-2021-without-gerrymandering.html


*Help NM redistrict in 2021 without gerrymandering **By *Kathleen M. Burke
/ Project Coordinator, Fair Districts For New Mexico
Monday, August 31st, 2020 at 12:02am – ABQ Journal
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At Fair Districts New Mexico our goal is to make the 2021 redistricting
process fair – “fair” as in reflective of the wishes of the electorate, as
opposed to fair in the eyes of select politicians. This organization is
frequently asked, paraphrased, “What makes 2021 any different from every
other year in which redistricting has come and gone, behind closed doors,
with little to no public input?” In short, this year and next, substantial
portions of the electorate, party affiliation aside, are watching closely.

This is a banner year for redistricting in New Mexico. Across the political
spectrum, the electorate has engaged and the electorate is watching. Such
tremendous public outcry to place redistricting in the hands of the people
has never before happened in New Mexico.

On July 27, a statewide redistricting webinar hosted by Retake Our
Democracy drew 213 registrants. Albuquerque’s Sens. Jerry Ortiz y Pino and
Mark Moores received accolades for speaking frankly about gerrymandering in
a large venue and in a way not heard before in New Mexico.

To date, we continue to discover tremendous knowledge and commitment to
redistricting reform among our Legislature, most recently at the bipartisan
Women’s Legislative Caucus, whose executive committee has stated its
caucus’s support.

New Mexico organizations statewide are staking their interest in
redistricting reform, too. Twenty prominent organizations have joined Fair
Districts New Mexico in support of redistricting reform in the 2021 cycle.
Some partners comprising Fair Districts New Mexico: New Mexico Ethics
Watch, League of Women Voters of New Mexico, Save Our Western Way of Life,
NAACP Doña Ana County, New Mexico First and the American Civil Liberties
Union New Mexico. Nationally, we are partnered by the Brennan Center for
Justice, the Election Reformers Network and the Princeton Gerrymandering
Project.

The groups that have joined this effort are not seeking any party
advantage, but rather are driving to place the responsibility of
redistricting in the hands of the people, where it belongs. These groups,
and an increasing number of legislators, want to right a wrong which has
led to disempowerment for far too long.

It is not a stretch to say that gerrymandering in our state has oftentimes
fit the criteria of institutional racism. Native Americans and Hispanics
alike have suffered the effects of gerrymandering in New Mexico. Without
sufficient reform, they will continue to. This is a wrong to be righted.

In 2021 the Legislature again grapples with redistricting, presenting the
opportunity in New Mexico to right a wrong inflicted upon Americans even
since long before New Mexico was a state; since the founding of this
country. The U.S. Congress at that time probably hadn’t even an inkling of
what a New Mexican might be, one day, much less the tenacity of one.

The N.M. Legislature holds the power to right this wrong in 2021, putting
an end to the infliction of gerrymandering upon New Mexicans.

The 2020 N.M. Redistricting Task Force will make recommendations to the
2021 N.M. Legislature. Applications for the Task Force are being accepted
from legislators and the community alike until Sept. 5. More information at
www.nmfirst.org.
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